A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of baby seats, more specifically, baby seats that are built into a car seat of a vehicle.
B. Discussion of the Prior Art
As a preliminary note, it should be stated that there is an ample amount of prior art that deals with baby seats. As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses a baby seat that attaches to a car seat back and can be removed and positioned as either a forward facing or rear-facing baby seat.
The Elton et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,667) discloses a vehicle seat assembly having an integrated child seat with rotatable cushion portion. However, the vehicle seat back of the Elton Patent does not rotate vertically to reveal a child safety seat adorning the back of the vehicle seat back.
The Bart patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,084) discloses a vehicle seat having an integral child seat that is deployed solely by rotating the panel from the stowed position within the seat back to the forwardly extending use position. However, the vehicle seat back of the Bart Patent does not rotate vertically about the center of the seat bottom to reveal a child safety seat adorning the back side of the seat's back.
The Park Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,093) discloses a child seat which can be withdrawably accommodated in a concave space in a bench-type automotive seat. Again, the child seat of the Park Patent is not mounted to the back side of the seat back and revealed by rotating the seat back vertically.
The Czapski et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,260) discloses a child seat module integrated with a rear vehicle seat, and including fold-down lower and upper segments, interconnected by a flexible and detachable hinge, and a plastic back panel mounted against the back frame of the bench seat. However, the child seat is not revealed by rotating the seat back vertically.
The Crisp Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,087) discloses an automobile seat having a built-in child seat that assumes different positions to accommodate infants in a rear facing position and children in a forwardly facing position. However, the automobile seat back of the Crisp Patent does not rotate vertically in order to reveal a child seat integrated into the seat back; and furthermore, the child seat is capable of facing either forward or rear.
The Dainty Patent (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 333,923) illustrates a design for a wall mounted infant seat, which does not depict or illustrate a use with a vehicle seat.
The Vogt Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,593) discloses a vehicle rear seat assembly having an integral child seat. However, the child seat does not extend from the back of the vehicle bench, and the vehicle bench does not rotate about the seat bottom to reveal the child seat.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe a baby seat that is built into the back of the seat back and of which the seat back can rotate vertically to reveal the baby seat in either a forward facing or rear facing configuration. In this regard, the built-in baby seat departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.